


Of Motel Rooms and a Green Bug

by AnnaBliss13



Series: Fargo Alternate Universes [2]
Category: Fargo (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, ghost!numbers, ghost!ray, hoping to develop this more eventually, kitten!ray, southern gothic vibe eventually, wrench is roxy's cool gay uncle don't fight me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 11:19:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13386717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaBliss13/pseuds/AnnaBliss13
Summary: Set in a similar universe to "Hello Brooklyn", only Ray is still killed by Emmit, leaving Nikki and Wrench to care for her daughter. Series of one shot stories that will take place in the Southern United States





	Of Motel Rooms and a Green Bug

**Author's Note:**

> This is another universe Winona and I have tried developing, though we haven't written much for it. We also usually end up laughing as in this universe Roxy has a southern accent as compared to a harsh Brooklyn one.
> 
> Also love him and Numbers as I may, I haven't had much practice writing Wrench or deaf characters in general, so I hope it comes off okay.

It was nearly four in the morning when Wrench rolled over and looked at the motel clock. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, still too tired to see anything clearly in the dark silence of the room. The curtains were drawn, yet a sliver of light managed to slip through as a nearby car started up and drove away. As the light briefly slipped over the room, he picked up on a slight movement in the corner of his eye. He whipped his head around towards the other bed in the small room, where his friend slept seemingly soundly. 

Nikki was laying still, a hand placed on top of her now round stomach, but there were tears present on her face. If she had let out any sort of noise indicating her distress, he wouldn’t have heard. But then he noticed the source of the movement and was sure he must still be half asleep. Another hand had come to rest on Nikki’s stomach, though this one drastically more pale in comparison to the already pale woman. 

His eyes drifted up from the hand and very clearly saw a man laying on the bed beside Nikki, though he didn’t quite appear to be actually on the bed. Wrench sat up, fully alert and ready to grab a weapon when the man looked up from gazing at the pregnant woman. Locking eyes with Wrench, he smiled sadly, before turning his attention to Nikki once again. Wrench caught a long glance at the man’s face as another car passed by the window. He looked familiar, yet the features of the man seemed to be less defined and the more he tried to focus on them, the harder it became to see the man.

He was left in a bind, unable to question the man unless he somehow knew sign language. Wrench decided it was worth the shot to try, and snapped his fingers to get the man’s attention without waking his tired friend. When he looked up at Wrench again, the hitman had confusion written across his face, and slowly signed, “Who are you?”

The man looked confused for a moment, but then the expression switched to concentration. Before Wrench had a moment to think, Nikki’s burner phone on the bedside table flipped on, unlocking without a need for a passcode. Wrench looked back up towards the man quizzically and with concern, but the man just gestured him to return his gaze to the phone. Nikki’s phone had only a few apps aside from the programs provided, including Facebook, which he knew she had made a new, fake account for in hopes to try to keep up with the situation in St.Paul now that they were making their way through the South. He didn’t even have to move his hand for the screen to begin to enter her photo album, scroll through the pictures until it found the one it wanted. 

This event alone was enough to scare Wrench, but the photo on the screen simultaneously terrified and calmed him. The picture seemed to be at some sort of fairgrounds, and there in the center was Nikki, clutching a purple stuffed bear covered in hearts in one hand, a smile spread across her face. Her head was not facing the camera, but looking at the man next to her, while her other arm was wrapped around his waist. The man in the photo, staring equally enamored at Nikki, was the same man in the dimly-lit motel room.  _ My Ray _ , he had remembered Nikki saying on more than one occasion, more so following the discovery of her daughter. Her fiance. Her dead fiance. 

Wrench turned his head back to face Ray, now sitting up like him, but his arm still draped lightly over Nikki’s stomach. He supposed the dead man opening the phone didn’t just open the phone for clarification, but for communication, and Wrench quickly opened the notes app to type his next question, before turning the phone.

_ How are you here? _

The ghost read the screen and looked back over at the hitman, shrugging. Wrench turned the phone back towards him and saw the typing start.

_ Your guess is as good as mine. Can’t say I mind though _

Wrench may have chuckled under normal conditions, but talking to a ghost on his friend’s phone was far from normal. He began typing out his next question for the apparition.

_ Why are you here? _

Ray looked at the screen and tried to decide what to say. He didn’t even understand  **how** he had come to be in the bed with Nikki, let alone be able to communicate with her new partner. When he first died, he tried time and time again to get Nikki to hear him, to see him. At the motel, at the police station, and in the woods. Then, he had suddenly been in a bowling alley, with some man telling him this was the best he could do on short notice, but it was only temporary, so don’t worry about the paws. Ray didn’t even know what he meant, but then he was in a box, with only a few small holes to look out of.

He watched as Nikki had wandered in with the man, who had helped her escape, helped her  **survive** . His fiancee made her way to the bar, where the older man who had put him in the container was sitting. He heard him speaking to her, but the box muffled most of the words.

But then, he was out of the box, and in Nikki’s soft, warm arms. He had desperately tried to talk, to tell her he was sorry for going alone, that he was sorry for getting her into such trouble (after he  **promised** her, what seems like so long ago, that they were going to have better lives,  **together** ). He wanted to apologize for the  **stupid,** fucking stamp. 

But all that came out were soft purrs and murmurs.

Oh, that was what he meant by “don’t worry about the paws”. 

Now out of the box, he could hear the man clearly, talking on and on about redemption and sacrifice. He didn’t care though, Ray was there, in Nikki’s arms, with her hugging him gently to her body. He thought about how much he was going to miss her hugs briefly but returned his mind to capturing the moment. 

The man, the weird man, who was able to make him a cat and know things he couldn’t  **possibly** have knowledge of, spoke again and introduced a point that made both the cat and woman alike stop breathing.

_ But none of that now, your first job is to keep that little girl inside you safe. _

The rest of the conversation wasn’t picked up by Ray, as he sat in shock, purring in sadness over the thought of leaving Nikki, Nikki and he- **their** daughter, all alone in a world where hunters chased humans through the woods, where they had to run from the law, where a brother would kill another over a  **stamp** . 

He realized he was out of Nikki’s arms too late to protest, and mewed in horror as she lifted him up to face her, and gently kissed the top of his head. He took her goodbye and held it with him as she and the fringe man left, leaving him with the odd man. He was human again, mostly, and as the man wished him the best, he continued to replay her words, even as his vision went black.

_ It’s okay. Don’t worry. _

Next thing he knew, he was in the motel room, on a bed, laying next to his fiancee. Apparently, quite a bit of time had passed between the bowling alley and now. And for some reason, he was able to talk to the man he was so glad decided to stay by her side. 

Ray thought about the question, but realized he needed to ask his own before answering.

_ How long has it been since the bus crash? _

_ 7 months. _

_ How far along is she? _

_ 8 months. _

_ Is the baby okay? Did the beating or the chase through the woods affect her? _

_ Not that we’re aware of. _

Ray was at a loss. Of all times he could have appeared at, it was a normal morning, his daughter had yet to have been born, and he wasn’t even sure Nikki would see him if she woke up. 

_ I don’t know why I’m here. _

Wrench sighed looking at the ghost of the man, and honestly felt bad for him. He couldn’t even imagine what it must be like to want to reach out to someone, when to them you, or at least the current state of you, didn’t exist. He hoped Grady wasn’t in the same situation as Ray.

Nikki started to toss and turn in the bed where Ray was, and the movement caused both men to look at her. Wrench noticed more words appearing on the screen, and looked down at the phone in his hand.

_ Thank you for not leaving them alone. _

He smiled sadly as he typed his reply.

_ It was the least I could have done. We helped each other out of hell.  _

Ray hesitated before the phone starting typing again. Wrench didn’t know how he was managing to control the technology, but he honestly didn’t think that issue was of top priority.

_ When the baby comes, can you give her something to remember me? To know I existed, and that I love them both. _

Wrench looked at the man in sympathy, nodding, but also typed.

_ What were you thinking of? _

_ I’m sure you’ll think of something. _

He wasn’t sure he’d be able to, but not wanting to disappoint the spirit, nodded again. Ray looked once again down at Nikki, who was still occasionally shifting in bed and attempted to soothe her by rubbing her arm. It didn’t seem to work.

_ Can I ask you one more thing? _ The phone self-typed.

_ Sure _

_ Has she picked a name out? _

Wrench smiled slightly at the phone and looked over at the dead man. He seemed nervous to ask about his own daughter.

_ Roxanne Stussy. Roxy for short _

Wrench watched as he showed the man the screen, and watched as Ray wiped away some tears. Then he chuckled lightly, and pointed to the screen, still facing him. Wrench turned the phone and found the source of the humor.

_ She always hated the police, but she could never hate Sting. _

The humor was broken off when Nikki suddenly awoke, face contorting with pain, and mouth opened, making a noise Wrench couldn’t hear, but Ray did, frantically trying to talk to her. She couldn’t see him, however, and turned away to face Wrench.

“I think something’s wrong. It hurts, Jesus-FUCK, it hurts.”

Nikki ripped off the bed sheets, only to find blood pooling under her, She struggled to get up, and Wrench hopped to his feet to help support her. Ray was still in the room, clearly panicked, but unable to help. Wrench looked at Nikki and sighed one of the first basic words he taught her.

_ Hospital? _ He questioned, concern on his face. She nodded frantically, and Wrench grabbed the keys and lead her out of the room. He took her to the car and they were off faster than Ray could blink. He stood, unable to leave the doorway, and disappeared back into the black.

-

Nikki was laying in the hospital bed later, looking like hell, but holding a small bundle to her chest. She gazed down at the infant in her arms, thanking whatever force in the universe helped make sure she didn’t lose her too. 

When Wrench walked in, he had some food for them and a decorative gift bag covering his arms. He placed the food down on the table next to the bed and put the gift in his lap as he sat down next to her. He gestured to the newborn she held, and with a smile, Nikki slowly faced her daughter towards him.

The baby had a small bundle of dark brown hair already on her head, which Wrench pointed to before smiling and pointing back at Nikki. She laughed, and took that as “She has your hair.”

Wrench presented the gift he had managed to find at the gift shop to Nikki and thought about how it was like a gift from the universe. Hell, it probably was.

Nikki opened the bag, and pulled out a small, purple, stuffed bear, covered in hearts, her face giving away all the emotions running through her head. She mouthed thank you with tears in her eyes, and as she started to show her daughter, in what Wrench assumed was a baby-talk voice, he couldn’t help but smile at the curtains that began to move on the other side of the room.

There wasn’t a draft. 

**Author's Note:**

> That Sting joke is the best piece of content I've written to date


End file.
